Part of getting any reunion organized is the planning phase. Here are some
of the planning steps that made this reunion the success that it was.

First we had to put a team together to start the work and get the planning underway.
This committee consisted of:

There were no actual assignments to particular parts of the planning because there
were people on the committee who had done this before. As it turned out
everyon just fort of fell into place in the jobs that they were best at accomplishing.

Locating our Class Members

The first order of business was to establish contact with as many of our classmates
as possible. Doug Cowan had an Eixcel listing of class members from the
96 Reunion. Pat Jones took that list and made contact with each and every
person on it by phone or email or thru the postal service. In some cases
a search on the internet was used to locate some of our misplaced members.
At the end of this effort a new database was built, one with pictures
from the annual and another with just the data as listed in the back of the Memories
Book. In actuality we know where some of these people are but they
don't want anything to do with any of these functions so they are listed as missing
on purpose.

Collection and disbursement of funds

Joan McKernan is our treasurer and she also partnered with Cheryl Bernhardi in the
local arrangements in Ridgecrest. All funds collected for the Reunion
and the Memories book wnet to her for accounting purposes. She also
arranged all the materials for the attendees in packets so ther were easier to
disseminate. Finally she took part in the preparation of El Charro and the
Elks Lodge with decorations.

Technical Aspects and the Slide Show

Doug cowan checked out all the electronics and availability of equipment for use
on the evening of the reunion. He produced a slide show and provided the
equipment to make it all work. He did a fine job and the folks I saw watching
the show were rapt with attention. Thing about a slide show is the most
commonplace and recognizable things become interesting just because of the
way they are presented. Doug is very good at this.

Why did we choose the El Charro??

In the words
of Cheryl Bernhardi
who arranged
this location:

Although Ridgecrest is a wonderful little town, locations for large group entertainment
are few. Our first call had no room available, the second call had
no adult beverage service, the third had almost everything we required.
A visit with Lois, the manager of El Charro Avitia, was such
a relief when she asked "How many and what do you want?"

She moved furniture, ordered special linens to fit our BHS theme, and turned the
entire restaurant over to us. Only two problems couldn't e solved.
The room could only seat 80, there were 93 of us and there was no microphone.
We adjusted, and set up additional tables in the lounge. Doug Cowan's
slide show was accomodated on the T.V. in the bar snd we were generously encouraged
to decorate as we wished. Lois had already worked a long shift but
after a quick trip home, to freshen up, she returned to make sure everything was
going well. The buffet included several "extra" items and we paid no room
rent. ~ CB